Mexican Ape-Lord, "the raw and epic metal band from Boston", are streaming the new song, "Mezzick And Drakelord", from their new album, Survival Cannibalism, out now via Unable Records. Listen below.

The songs on Survival Cannibalism - which landed at #19 on our BravePicks 2020 list - were inspired by a true story of the Nottingham Galley shipwreck and the cannibalism that took place on Boon Island, Maine in 1710.

"I wanted to get inside the heads of these tormented guys, whose suffering drove them to do the unthinkable," says singer Jon Hardy. "It’s an grim subject, obviously, but a great one for Tony, Dan, and Steve, because they are masterful at covering the full range, musically - from utter darkness to the thrill of cheating death."

Survival Cannibalism tracklisting:

"Black Cloud"
"Situation"
"No Deliverance"
"So Much Wasted Rope"
"The Devil Does Divide Us"
"Stinkin’ Drunk On Blood"
"Dereliction"
"Mezzick And Drakelord"

"Mezzick And Drakelord":

"Black Cloud":

"The Devil Does Divide Us":

"No Deliverance":

"Stinkin’ Drunk On Blood":

"So Much Wasted Rope":

"Situation" video:

Mexican Ape-Lord features Meliah Rage founding guitarist/songwriter Anthony Nichols, The Bags vocalist/bassist Jon Hardy, drummer named Steve Fry (Crotalus, Graveheart) and lead guitarist Dan Dykes (Triphammer).

The band has launched a profile page where you can connect with them on Spotify, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, as well as offering up merch for the new album. Visit this location for all your Mexican Ape-Lord needs!

Washington D.C. police and federal investigators have released 38 images of individuals suspected of unlawful entry during a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol carried out on Wednesday (January 6) during the final Congressional vote recording for the 2020 general election. Among them is a photo of ICED EARTH leader Jon Schaffer taken by Roberto Schmidt of AFP.

"Anyone who can identify these individuals or has knowledge of this incident should take no action but call police at (202) 727-9099 or text your tip to the department's TEXT TIP LINE line at 50411," the department wrote in an online posting asking for help. "The Metropolitan Police Department currently offers a reward of up to $1,000 to anyone who provides information that leads to the arrest and indictment of the person or persons responsible for a crime committed in the District of Columbia."

The Schaffer picture by Roberto Schmidt can be found on the Getty Images web site and was used as the lead photo for two separate high-profile mainstream-media news articles on Wednesday: NBC News and The Daily Beast.

This is not the first pro-Donald Trump event that Schaffer has been part of. Less than two months ago, on November 15, Jon identified himself and spoke to the German daily newspaper Die Welt while in the crowd at a Washington, D.C. demonstration supporting Trump and protesting the election results. At the time, Die Welt journalist Carolina Drüten posted a picture of the guitarist and erroneously spelled Schaffer's name as "John Schaper" but did correctly note that he traveled from his home state of Indiana to attend the event.

"They will go down. They're messing with the wrong people, believe me," Schaffer was quoted as saying by Die Welt, referring to the American political establishment.

Asked by Die Welt if he expected riots, Schaffer said: "If someone uses violence against us, we will react accordingly. We don't want that, but we are ready."

During a September 2020 Facebook Live chat, Schaffer was asked if he has any intention of ever going into politics. He responded: "I'm too much of a rabble-rouser. I'm not politics material. I'm not politically correct. I'm never gonna say things that I don't believe in because somebody's lining my pockets. I have no interest in that garbage. And I think there's a few people out there like that, but they're few and far between. But still, it's really not a thing that I'm interested in."

He continued: "I spend a lot of time and energy trying to get people to do some research. I'm not trying to convince somebody of anything. I'm just saying just check it out. Use your own power of discernment. But don't make judgments based on mainstream media manipulation. These people lie all the fucking time; it's what they do. They're feckless traitors. That's what Congress is. They deceive all of us. I don't care if it's Parliament or whatever system you have — it's a joke. They're criminals, and they're owned by criminal bankers, and that's just the reality of it.

"I would rather be a guy that inspires people to get fired up about this. This is a big deal. This is about the future of the human race. This is no joke by any stretch. We have to educate ourselves.

"People think they don't have any power, but they have a tremendous amount of power — I mean, an unbelievable amount of power," Schaffer added. "The system and the control grid wants to make you feel like you have no power and they enforce their rule through fear, intimidation and psychological warfare. It's all garbage.

"I think part of it is the currency system and the way they just print money out of thin air, and it's not backed by anything, it's allowed people to have this illusion of wealth, which tends to keep people soft. But at the end of the day, it's all debt based, so that's another form of slavery. And if you're living in that kind of system, it's a way to keep people calm, because they think everything is okay. It's not okay. It hasn't been okay for a very long time. It's just now you're starting to see everything come to a head.

"I'm not a left-or-right guy. I'm an American — that's my country; that's where I live. I don't trust my government. I don't give a shit if it's an 'R' or a 'D' next to the name of the person. I try to understand the bigger picture. I've done a lot of reading and a lot of studying. I'm a man of my convictions, and I don't say stuff that I don't truly believe. And I have changed my position a few times through the years, because I've learned more — not because I was trying to be politically correct or trying to kowtow to somebody's opinion.

"I don't really care if people like my view," he said. "I really don't care. It is what I feel, and I'm being honest about it based on the research that I've done, and I've done shitloads of it. I can make these claims and back it up.

"I feel like I can have more of an effect through the music than I ever could trying to get into that arena, which is just full of trash. And it is up to all of the people to turn that around. You can't put your hope into one president or one person, or a mayor or a governor or whatever. You've gotta be out there and actively put pressure on these people, let 'em know you're paying attention. If you're not paying attention, they're gonna rob you and steal everything. Your freedom too. Not just your money. They're gonna steal your fucking freedom. 'Cause they're a bunch of sick control freaks."

Last July, Schaffer raised eyebrows when he voiced his controversial views on the coronavirus crisis during an interview with MetalSucks's "The Quarantinecast", claiming that COVID-19 is "a psychological warfare campaign on the people more than it is a serious pandemic." Implying that a shadowy cabal of elites is using a global crisis as a cover to profiteer and entrench their power, Schaffer said: "I think there's a lot more going on than meets the eye here — in fact, I know there is. Legitimate doctors and scientists are being censored and banned on YouTube constantly. It's unbelievable levels of fraud."




The @DCPoliceDept released these photos of persons of interest after Trump supporters rioted at the Capitol following a rally Wednesday. See full-size photos >> https://t.co/NVxdEpCdEv pic.twitter.com/ZRSCwLtdOp

— WBAL-TV 11 Baltimore (@wbaltv11) January 7, 2021

On February 12, Sacred Reich will release CD and LP reissues of their classic albums Ignorance, Surf Nicaragua and The American Way via Metal Blade Records. Pre-order your copies here.

Available formats:

Ignorance:

- jewelcase-CD
- 180g black vinyl (EU exclusive)
- red / white marbled vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 300 copies)
- grey / blue marbled vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 200 copies)
- clear / black spot w/ white & red splatter vinyl (Kings Road exclusive - limited to 100 copies)
- transparent cobalt blue vinyl (US exclusive)
- red / white / blue striped vinyl (US exclusive)

Surf Nicaragua:

- jewelcase-CD
- 180g black vinyl (EU exclusive)
- paradise bay blue marbled vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 500 copies)
- oakwood brown marbled vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 300 copies)
- camouflage marbled vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 200 copies)
- aqua w/ green & orange splatter vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 100 copies)
- clear w/ black smoke vinyl (US exclusive)
- aqua w/ black splatter vinyl (US exclusive)

The American Way:

- jewelcase-CD
- 180g black vinyl (EU exclusive)
- camouflage green marbled vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 500 copies)
- dark purple violet marbled vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 300 copies)
- green w/ red-brown splatter vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 200 copies)
- green / red-brown melt vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 100 copies)
- green / black marbled vinyl (US exclusive)
- clear w/ green & black splatter vinyl (US exclusive)

(Photo - Stephanie Cabral)

In a recent interview with Ultimate Guitar, former SLAYER drummer Dave Lombardo was asked what he hopes his legacy is on the day he hangs up the drumsticks. He responded: "I'm not going to give up the drumsticks, man. Those motherfuckers are going to die with me. Shit, I don't retire. Even with all the money in the world, you couldn't get me to retire.

"I love what I do. I love music. Musicians don't retire, they only move on to another band or something.

"What do I want to be known for? There are so many moments. There was one time I performed live in front of all these composers and I was working, at the time, with Christopher Young, this was for 'Ghost Rider'. We did a live performance. It's on YouTube and it's really cool. That was a proud moment. Working with Tyler Bates in 2004 on 'Dawn Of The Dead'. Another amazing composer.

"There's another composer I've worked with recently — Phil Eisner. That's another surprise that will be coming out [in 2021]. That's another proud moment.

"The 'Big Four', of course. That was the pinnacle of the metal era — or my metal years.

"Releasing this [MR.] BUNGLE album. You know, starting another band after SLAYER called DEAD CROSS and asking [Mike] Patton to join — and he agreed. That was an amazing thing. It almost happens every day. I love what I do."

Lombardo went on to say that retirement is a curse word for him.

"I don't believe in that word," he said. "Buddy Rich… all those guys played until they were 80, you know? I think he played until he was 80. That's just something I had in my mind ever since I was a kid, looking up to these older guys — Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich.

"Ed Shaughnessy wrote me a beautiful letter. We got to hang out. He played for years on 'The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson'. He played well into his later years. We love it. It's good for our health. It's good for our lungs and our upper body strength."

The 55-year-old musician, who splits most of his time between crossover pioneers SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, horror-punk icons MISFITS and hardcore supergroup DEAD CROSS, was effectively fired from SLAYER after sitting out the group's Australian tour in February/March 2013 due to a contract dispute with the other bandmembers. He has since been replaced by Paul Bostaph, who was previously SLAYER's drummer from 1992 until 2001.

Shortly after his dismissal, Lombardo said that he discovered that 90 percent of SLAYER's tour income was being deducted as expenses, including fees to management, costing the band millions and leaving them with about 10 percent to split four ways. While he and Araya hired auditors to figure out what had happened, Lombardo said he was never allowed to see any of the information obtained.

A few years ago, King said that "when Dave was in [SLAYER] this last time, I figured I'd be on the stage with him until one of us fell off the stage, dead. Things change. He got some bad advice and listened to some bad advice, gave us an ultimatum ten days before we went to Australia [to do the Soundwave festival tour]. And I said, 'I can't have this over my head.' And I feel bad for Dave to this day; I really feel bad for him because he shot himself in the foot. Maybe he thought he had the upper hand, but you ain't gonna get me."

SLAYER played its last-ever show in November 2019 at The Forum in Los Ange

The Metal Voice spoke to guitarist Michael Schenker as he prepares to release the new MSG album, Immortal, on on January 29 via Nuclear Blast. Schenker also spoke about Eddie Van Halen, and why he declined so many major bands over the years as lead guitarist. Watch below.

Discussing the time he was asked to join Deep Purple, Schenker reveals: "In 1993 I got a phone call, I was the first person to be chosen. You have to remember me and Ritchie Blackmore have so many parallels, everyone that leaves Ritchie Blackmore joins Michael Schenker, it's the funniest thing. There was always a conversation in Deep Purple and Ozzy, that's why Ozzy called me up and asked me to join. I was always the first choice but I declined and I must say I'm the kid in the sandbox just enjoying playing. When I get these offers from Thin Lizzy, Motörhead... I always decline because I don't want to copy, I want to do pure self expression. I declined all these bands because I had the vision of focusing on pure expression. I cannot follow a bunch of people looking for something that I have already finished with. My own vision is more important."

MSG is a legendary name. After two phenomenal records under the guise of Michael Schenker Fest, a true guitar hero is returning to his roots. By forming Michael Schenker Group (MSG) back in 1979, Michael Schenker laid the foundations for one of hard rock’s most glorious solo careers of all times. And while nobody expected anything less from a former guitarist for Scorpions and UFO, it’s close to impossible mentioning everything Michael has built over the past 50 years, or the countless people he influenced or played with. This, truly, is the stuff that hard rocking myths are made of.

“I never looked back,” is how Michael dryly sums up an extraordinary career. Due to this mindset, he only realised much later what a huge impact his playing had made on the world of metal and hard rock. Very few guitarists can be cited as a primary influence for the likes of James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, Dave Mustaine, Dimebag Darrell, Slash or Kerry King. However, to understand Michael Schenker means to understand one primary thing: he’s not here to be worshipped or adored, he’s not here to get rich, he’s here to play. And at 65, he’s doing it with the same swagger, verve and dizzying artistry as always. “I’m still 16 in my head,” he laughs.

Right in time for his 40th anniversary as a solo artist and his 50th birthday as a musician, he resurrects the immortal Michael Schenker Group. Immortal is also the name of his new album, recorded by likely the strongest line-up in his long history. Its a lightning bolt of an album that sounds fresh, bloodthirsty and agile. Immortal showcases the gargantuan vocal talents of Chilean hard rock prodigy Ronnie Romero (Rainbow), backed by singers Ralf Scheepers (Primal Fear), Joe Lynn Turner (ex-Deep Purple) as well as Schenker’s brother in arms, Michael Voss (Mad Max) who again produced the record alongside Michael Schenker – flawlessly, punchy and at full steam as if their very lives depended on it.

Next to Michael Schenker caressing his iconic black and white Dean Flying V, we hear bass player Barry Sparks (Dokken), keyboard player Steve Mann as well as the three drummers Bodo Schopf, Simon Phillips (ex-Toto) and Brian Tichy (ex-Whitesnake) pumping gallons of fresh blood through the tracks. And that’s not all, keyboard wizard extraordinaire Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater, Black Country Communion) gives the listener a baptism of fire in the blistering, heavy hitting opener “Drilled To Kill”, powered by Ralf Scheepers’ unbelievable vocal tornado.

Michael Schenker doesn’t live to play, he plays to live, and there’s no better way of summing up his relationship to his music than this – now for half a century and counting. The most emblematic representation of this relationship is the monumental closing track “In Search Of The Peace Of Mind”, a new recording of the very first song he ever wrote. “I composed this track in my mother’s kitchen back when I was 15,” he looks back half a century and smiles broadly: “The solo is just so perfect, I wouldn’t change a single note even today. This is the most important song of the last 50 years for me. It’s what started it all.”

When it finally got released in 1972 on the Scorpions’ debut Lonesome Crow, Schenker had already moved on to UFO. What followed were several decades of pure hard rock ecstasy on and off stage, featuring a rotating cast of stellar players, always pressing the pedal to the metal. Now, in 2020, he reaps what he sowed. Alongside many of his peers, friends and contemporaries, he is celebrating 50 years of hard rock – fittingly with an album that is something like a zeitgeisty reminiscence of everything he’s ever done. The massive midtempo smasher “Don’t Die On Me Now” sees Joe Lynn Turner going all in, Ronnie Romero works his magic in “Knight Of The Dead” while Michael Voss cuts a grand figure before the microphone as well as behind the mixing desk on the furious second single “After The Rain”.

Towering above them all, Michael Schenker and his guitar prove they’re truly and utterly invincible. The celebrated icon pulls out all the stops – including his legendary “howler”, the fabled magnet he’s used on his fingerboard for a while now. And here’s yet another thing that’s just so archetypically Schenker, when bringing up his fiery and dedicated performance on “Immortal” he nonchalantly shrugs it off: “I simply played from the heart, as always.” This, dear Michael, is the understatement of the year – all the more so for a record that is already one of the top contenders for hard rock/metal album of the year.

Pre-order the new album here.

Tracklisting:

"Drilled To Kill" (feat Ralf Scheepers)
"Don’t Die On Me Now" (feat Joe Lynn Turner)
"Knight Of The Dead" (feat Ronnie Romero)
"After The Rain" (feat Michael Voss)
"Devil’s Daughter" (feat Ralf Scheepers)
"Sail The Darkness" (Feat Ronnie Romero)
"The Queen Of Thorns And Roses" (feat Michael Voss)
"Come On Over" (feat Ronnie Romero)
"Sangria Morte" (feat Joe Lynn Turner)
"In Search Of Peace Of Mind" (feat Ronnie Romero, Gary Barden,Doogie White, Robin McAuley)

"After The Rain" (feat. Michael Voss) video:

"Drilled To Kill" lyric video:

(Photo - Stephanie Cabral)

Former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick spoke to Rockin' Metal Revival about how the band's reunion with Peter Criss and Ace Frehley for an episode of MTV's "Unplugged" in 1995 paved the way for a KISS tour that would exclude him and drummer Eric Singer.

"[KISS's official] convention tour [in 1995, where Criss rejoined KISS for two songs in a surprise appearance] was what triggered the opportunity for 'Unplugged', but, quite honestly, it also was the catalyst for the reunion tour, which meant the end of my [time with the band]," Kulick said (hear audio below). "That's the bittersweet [part about it]. Now, you've gotta remember, those guys [Ace and Peter] were always, like, 'Hey, I'd love to be back in the band,' this kind of thing. Or, 'What do you think about a reunion?' And I don't think Gene [Simmons] and Paul [Stanley] really cared to entertain that until the 'Unplugged' thing came around and MTV really wanted those guys involved. And then, all of a sudden, people were interested; promoters were throwing big offers to the guys. So it was kind of weird. Eric Singer and I, in January of '96 is when we were told that they were gonna make the announcement at the Grammys, or something, the next month, and we were finishing 'Carnival Of Souls'. So it really was a weird time of my life and everything."

Bruce remains philosophical about his exit from KISS, saying it had nothing to do with his ability or the chemistry he had with the rest of the band.

"I wasn't not going to be in KISS because I didn't play well enough or I didn't get along with the guys; it was purely a business thing," he said. "I always like to say sometimes that it seems like 'Star Wars' went away for a long time, and then, 20 years later, all of a sudden, the franchise retools and there's more 'Star Wars' movies. So the makeup KISS, it was time for that to come back, and, as you know, the numbers don't lie — they did tremendous business. That might have been the end of me actually being in the band, but my connection to the band's been very strong all these years."

"Carnival Of Souls" was recorded in 1995 but wasn't released until 1997, under the title "Carnival Of Souls: The Final Sessions". There was no accompanying tour to support the album, and none of the songs on "Carnival Of Souls" have ever been performed live by KISS.

Back in 1996, Gene called "Carnival Of Souls" "the heaviest disc we've done," and Paul called it "arguably our best studio album in the last 10 years."

Bruce joined KISS in 1984, and accompanied the band on the "Animalize" tour and continued with them until the reunion tour. Bruce is heavily featured on "Kissology - Vol. 2" and "Vol. 3", the band's DVDs spanning their historic four-decade-plus career.

George Lynch has once again explained his decision to retire the LYNCH MOB band name, saying he "got tired of rationalizing it."

Last August, Lynch announced that he was ending LYNCH MOB, apparently due to the racial insensitivity of the moniker, saying he will no longer record or perform under that name.

In a new interview with George Dionne of Metal Express Radio, George spoke about "Heavy Hitters", his recently released collection of studio recordings with Jeff Pilson that turn pop music classics into metal anthems, and addressed questions about why it took him three decades to call it quits with LYNCH MOB.

"When we first formed the band in '89, the name had sort of already been around," George said (hear audio below). "While I was in DOKKEN, it's what I called our little group of guitar fans — I had picks made; it was kind of a little subculture within DOKKEN. When we started working on developing and building the band after DOKKEN broke up, that was just the name that we always thought we'd use, 'cause it was a perfect fit — it's my name, and it describes it pretty well. And, of course, the negative connotations were always there, and I was aware of 'em, but not as aware as I probably should have been. [Laughs]

"I had made numerous attempts over the decades to kind of let that name go and had walked that back for multiple reasons — usually because of business considerations," he continued. "For instance, if you try to go out on a tour and not use the name, promoters aren't gonna be happy with you changing it. People aren't gonna know who you are. They're not gonna show up, because what's THE GEORGE LYNCH EXPERIENCE, or whatever you call it. Or record labels are not interested, because it's a brand that they can count on and sell a certain many albums or whatever.

"For instance, the LYNCH MOB record 'Smoke This' that came out, I think, in '99 or 2000, that was not supposed to be a LYNCH MOB record; that really wasn't anything to do with LYNCH MOB. At the end of the day, after the record was done and we were delivering it to the label, they insisted on using that name as insurance. And if I hadn't agreed to that, we wouldn't have had a record. That's the kind of pressure I'm talking about.

"But then, with the onset of everything that's happened in the last year, I didn't have that kind of pressure anymore," George added. "I could take it or leave it at this point. And I didn't really feel comfortable with it; I didn't feel comfortable with the name. 'Cause I'm a very progressive person politically, and it just so flies in the face of everything I believe in, and it makes it hard. It makes it hard to have relationships with people and explain yourself, and I got tired of rationalizing it. I think the music is bigger than that, and it's had a great run.

"Another reason, too, is the band fell apart again. The band has fallen apart so many times, I can't even count. And it was just, like, 'No more Oni [Logan, vocals], no more Brian Tichy [drums], no more this guy, no more that guy. Oh, great. Now what do I do?' It's, like, 'Okay, build another band from scratch, call it LYNCH MOB?' No. How about just build something new? It gives me a lot more freedom to basically play anything I want live… I can go out and play everything from my catalog — new, old, covers, jams, you name it, and go deep and have fun and change it up every night."

Oni first hooked up with LYNCH MOB in 1990, but exited the group after the release of its first album, only to rejoin the outfit in the late 2000s.

Logan is featured on five of LYNCH MOB's eight albums, including 1990's "Wicked Sensation", as well as 2009's "Smoke And Mirrors", 2014's "Sun Red Sun", 2015's "Rebel" and 2017's "The Brotherhood".

Last August, LYNCH MOB celebrated the 30th anniversary of "Wicked Sensation" with a special limited print/deluxe edition of the album. "Wicked Sensation Reimagined" features re-worked and re-recorded versions of the LP's classic songs, and was made available via Rat Pak Records.

With losing longtime members, drummer Sean Reinert (officially parted ways in 2017) and bass player Sean Malone, 2020 was a very tough year for Cynic. In yesterday's statement, the band's guitarist/vocalist Paul Masvidal revealed, among others, that we can expect a new Cynic record this year.

Full statement from Paul: "Having lived through the loss of my two Cynic lifelong musical band mates/friends in 2020, I've become intimate with the energy of grief. One thing in particular is experientially clear to me now:

"We are all living in a kaleidoscopic process of change. A constant flow.

"Sometimes we shift a little, and blue is dominant, we shift again and pink is dominant. Our identities are like that. There is no free standing self. We are a flow of awareness that rests on the body. We are awareness itself.

"When I first heard the news about Malone's death earlier this month, I went from being actively engaged in a creative process to feeling like I was suddenly up to my neck in quicksand. I was unable to play my guitar for weeks, and found myself expending whatever energy I had cleaning and organizing my home. Grief is the most powerful experience; it wipes everything else away.

"Thank you for the support and comfort I've received. I'm reminded through your messages, that we're all in this together and that the Cynic family has endured through a lifetime of kaleidoscopic change. A new record will see the light of day in the new year, along with a plan to organize a virtual musical memorial/celebration of Malone and Reinert.

"I know this has been a turbulent year for everyone. Loving and kind New Years wishes to you all. May you have peace of mind, freedom from fear, may you have everything you need; love, shelter, food, and good health."

During an appearance on a recent episode of the "Talk Is Jericho" podcast, ANTHRAX drummer Charlie Benante and guitarist Scott Ian took part in the "Classic Album Clash", where they joined host Chris Jericho and Eddie Trunk to discuss their classic second and third albums, 1985's "Spreading The Disease" and 1987's "Among The Living", respectively.

Said Charlie: "[1984's] 'Fistful [Of Metal]' is our first album, but, to me, 'Spreading' really is our first album with the lineup that is the classic lineup. And those two records, 'Among' and 'Spreading'… Look, 'Among' gave us a career. If it wasn't for 'Spreading', there would be no 'Among'. The two of them I hold in very high regard in our career. I love both of those records. There was moments, there was things that were going on, there was this camaraderie. We were young, man. We were just early 20s, really getting to know each other, and then, boom, there you go. Bye. You guys are together forever now. Go on tour, and get along. And, all of a sudden, you see this guy has this issue, this guy has that issue, but you all just kind of make it all work, because you love what you're doing. There were some trying times out there, but if it wasn't for those trying times, who knows if we would have made a 'Worship Music' [2011] or 'For All Kings' [2016]."

Added Scott: "Being the guys in the band, we see it in a certain way. And for sure, that time period of '85 through '87 is why we're on the phone [talking about this] right now. We were able to leave a deep enough mark on the planet in people's psyches. People fell in love with what we were doing and continued to all these years later. Right now somewhere on this planet, there is a kid — literally a kid — probably listening to 'Among The Living' for the first time, because his older brother turned him on to it or whatever reason; or he found it online streaming, because it said, 'If you like this, you should try this.' And it's an undeniable record — both of them are. You really can't go wrong, I feel like, with either one; they just absolutely hold up. Yeah, we have those records to thank for a career.

"It'd be really easy, I think — maybe 'easy' is not the right word — but for a band like us, with our catalog, we don't have to make records anymore," Ian continued. "We did come to a point in our career where we could have just gone out every two years and played the songs that everybody wants to hear — the same 14 to 18 songs that everyone wants to hear, and we could have just done that. But it's really not who we are. So when [people] talk so highly about 'Worship Music' and 'For All Kings', it feels really good, because we did work so hard on those records and put so much of ourselves and our lives into those records, and to know that people connect with those records the same way they connected with the records from 30 years ago, obviously, feels really good; it makes me feel really good, as an artist. And the fact that we don't have to just rest on our laurels, as they say. It's always about moving forward."

Two months ago, Ian told "Whiplash", the KLOS radio show hosted by Full Metal Jackie, that ANTHRAX likely won't release any music until the coronavirus pandemic has subsided and he and his bandmates are able to tour in support of the effort. "In my brain, I don't wanna put a record out until I can play shows," he explained. "That's what I wanna do, but, of course, I don't control the world and I don't control what's gonna happen with COVID. I think I can safely say we will certainly be ready to make a record [in 2021]. So I think we will probably go do that once we're ready to go do it. There would be no reason to have a record [written] and then just sit around and not record it. So, I think once we actually feel like we're ready to go into the studio, we'll do that, regardless of where things are at on the planet, and then just take it from there. At least it'll be in the can, and then we'll be able to make a decision on what the best course is for us to take at that point."

At the 2019 Download festival in the United Kingdom, Benante said fans can expect to hear some surprises on ANTHRAX's next disc. "There's some extreme stuff on this record that we touched on," he said. "There's different things that we're gonna try and do that's gonna make it next level."

Also in 2019, Benante told Australia's "Everblack" podcast that ANTHRAX's new music is shaping up to be "a little more in the aggressive style."

"For All Kings" was called by some critics ANTHRAX's strongest album to date. Its arrival followed a five-year period during which the band experienced a rebirth of sorts, beginning with ANTHRAX's inclusion on the "Big Four" tour, and continuing with the release of comeback LP "Worship Music".

KISS frontman Paul Stanley has blasted actor-turned-evangelist Kirk Cameron for holding two maskless caroling protests in California last month.

One week after hosting a Christmas caroling event in Thousand Oaks, California largely attended by unmasked, non-socially-distanced singers, the "Growing Pains" star held a second singalong protest outside The Oaks mall next door to a COVID-19 testing center. Cameron billed the event as a protest against COVID-19 restrictions in California.

On Friday (January 1), Stanley took to his Twitter to criticize Cameron, who is best known for his portrayal of Mike Seaver on the ABC sitcom "Growing Pains" from 1985 to 1992, for his caroling protests. He wrote: "If his BS wasn't putting uninformed and easily impressionable people's lives at risk along with the rest of us who already know better, he'd just be a schmuck. Instead he's a menace. What a jerk. Go back to obscurity."

At the latest event, Cameron was reportedly joined by a crowd of about 75 to 100 people of all ages, most of whom did not wear masks or give each other the minimum six feet of personal space. Representatives for The Oaks mall called the event "irresponsible," noting that it was unauthorized and that they have asked Cameron to hold all future events at a different venue. "We continue to share our community's concerns over these irresponsible — yet constitutionally protected — events and have law enforcement on property. We reached out to the organizer to ask that the event be moved," they wrote in a statement.

Asked by Newsmax how he responds to people saying that he's "helping to spread the disease around," Cameron said: "I'm not the mask police. This is America. We shouldn't be having a mask gestapo and a distance monitoring going on."

Late Friday night, Stanley also posted a one-minute video message in which he urged people to wear masks and social distance. "It's important," he said. "If you don't wanna do it for you, do it for the people around you. It's a small concession, and it can do so much good."

This is not the first time Stanley has slammed people who refuse to wear a mask in public spaces to protect others from possible infection. Back in September, he took to his Twitter to share a CNN article about an Idaho pastor who was hospitalized with COVID-19 after calling himself a "no-masker" during a service and repeatedly questioning the veracity of coronavirus case reporting. Stanley added in a message: "YOU figure this one out. I can't. A hoax and non-existent virus has put this guy in the ICU. If you're so concerned with a loss of your freedom , Why do you stop at red lights? Don't let the government control you!! Drive right through!!! PUT YOUR MASK ON."

In early July, Stanley shared a photo of him and his eight-year-old daughter Emily wearing masks, and he included the following message: "Sunset at the beach with Emily. WEAR YOUR MASK! Don't listen to conspiracy theorists or graduates of The Internet University Of Medicine. While the credible authorities and experts continue to learn more about Covid 19 they remain in agreement about safety protocols. End of story".

While 346,000 Americans have died so far as a result of COVID-19, a number of people have come out against COVID-19 response measures, including lockdowns, physical distancing and mandatory mask policies, saying that they violate constitutional rights.

More than 77,000 people in the U.S. lost their lives in December to COVID-19, while 6.4 million contracted the virus. There are now more than 20 million confirmed COVID-19 cases in the U.S.




If his BS wasn’t putting uninformed and easily impressionable people’s lives at risk along with the rest of us who already know better, he’d just be a schmuck. Instead he’s a menace. What a jerk. Go back to obscurity. https://t.co/55Ynkof5DE

— Paul Stanley (@PaulStanleyLive) January 1, 2021








pic.twitter.com/CFCM3sdFvt

— Paul Stanley (@PaulStanleyLive) January 2, 2021

In a recent interview with Full Metal Jackie's nationally syndicated radio show, vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway of British extreme metal pioneers NAPALM DEATH discussed the troubling health and economic realities of COVID-19 and the devastating impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on the music industry, with canceled concerts, tours and music festivals, all leaving hundreds of thousands of crew members out of work.

"First and foremost for me is the protection of the vulnerable, because as a human being, I don't wanna sacrifice other human beings for just the sake of opening things up," Barney said. "Much in the same way as the things that NAPALM DEATH generally talks about — we don't sort of walk over people to get to what we need; that's not the way to do things, as far as I'm concerned.

"I know it's not easy," he continued. "A lot of bands are missing out, and we are too. We are slightly worried about it, but I'm just quite philosophical about it at the moment. I'm just kind of waiting for things to move forward. I don't know when it's gonna be. I don't know if it will get to the point where I'm completely desperate myself. But I've always lived very simply anyway. I've made a few extra adjustments, and I'm kind of getting through it okay. But I don't know is the answer, and we'll just have to see how it goes.

"Obviously, this isn't just exclusive to people in the arts or musicians or however you wanna put it — this is for a lot of people. And so we've kind of gotta roll with it for a while and see where it goes.

"What I would say, overall, is there needs to be more government assistance, or assistance for everybody — whoever you are and whatever your circumstances are," Barney added. "If governments are supposed to — if they're there for anything at all, which is to try and protect the people that they serve, then they have to realize this is a unique situation. People should never be allowed to go without food or shelter or anything like that."

NAPALM DEATH released its latest studio album, "Throes Of Joy In The Jaws Of Defeatism", in September via Century Media Records. The follow-up to 2015's "Apex Predator - Easy Meat" was again recorded with longtime producer Russ Russell and features artwork by Frode Sylthe.

GODSMACK drummer Shannon Larkin says that he and his bandmates had "fun" on tour with MÖTLEY CRÜE, despite the fact that the two groups have engaged in a decade-long public feud.

The tension between GODSMACK frontman Sully Erna and MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx began when they clashed during the 2009 "Crüe Fest 2" tour, on which GODSMACK was a support act and CRÜE was the headliner. GODSMACK later wrote the song "Cryin' Like A Bitch" about Nikki, fueling what has now become an 11-year war of words.

Larkin addressed the long-running dispute during a recent appearance on "That Jamieson Show". He said (see video below): "That MÖTLEY tour was great. There was some conflict of ego, maybe, that started before the tour even started between my singer and their bass player. But, shit, man, I'm hanging out with [CRÜE drummer] Tommy Lee every night. I saw him blow his hand out on that tour.

"That MÖTLEY tour was fun for everybody," he insisted. "And then later on, Nikki Sixx [said GODSMACK] didn't have fun on the tour. Whatever — we had fun on the tour. It was just there were certain things that pissed our guy [Erna] off, and so he pissed their guy [Sixx] off, and those guys are very strong-willed dudes. But as far as the band goes, that's what hurt about when Sixx came out… 'Cause, man, I had the first MÖTLEY CRÜE record on Leathür Records [CRUE's original record label]; I still have my vinyl. I was a huge MÖTLEY CRÜE fan; I mean, they're legends. So we were honored to go on. And all the bullshit that happened was just that — bullshit.

"It was really cool. At one point, [CRÜE guitarist] Mick Mars called me, and he said, 'Hey, man, I might be doing a blues record after this tour. And if you'd be interested in maybe playing some drums or whatever.' And I'm, like, 'Oh my God. Yes. Yes is the answer.' Mick Mars, you see that guy, it's like seeing Santa Claus; he's like a mythical creature. And, of course, he never called. And by the end of the tour, then everything's, 'Oh, there's a war going on between MÖTLEY CRÜE and GODSMACK.'"

Larkin added: "The 'Cryin' Like A Bitch' thing… I'll tell you I came up with 'Cryin' Like A Bitch' about [NFL quarterback] Philip Rivers, because I'm a Raiders fan. They needed to win in the playoffs. At the end, Philip Rivers threw, of course, he threw the interception, or whatever he did. So, there he is on the sideline with a tear glistening on his eye. So I told Sully, 'Oh my God, dude. Write a song called 'Cryin' Like A Bitch'.' And he [said], 'That's rad.' He loved it. And he's the lyricist of GODSMACK, and it's his vision and all. And so he wrote the song."

Regarding how the final track turned out, Larkin said: "I thought it was fun. It wasn't really like [a diss song from] the rap guys, I don't think — [it wasn't] malicious. I think it was more just taking the piss, as they say."

Back in August 2014, Nikki claimed that he was approached by a publicist for GODSMACK saying that the Erna-led band really wanted to appear on the MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist's "Sixx Sense With Nikki Sixx" syndicated radio program. Nikki recalled: "I [told the publicist], 'Over my dead [expletive] body.' And they said, 'Well, you know, they wanna be on the show because their record's coming out.' And I go, 'Did you forget the fact that they wrote a song about me called 'Cryin' Like A Bitch' and that there's probably 15 festivals that MÖTLEY CRÜE is headlining and that we said if GODSMACK's on 'em, we're not doing them? And that was just the beginning of my revenge. And that I take every opportunity to slander them and be very immature? And then they wanna be on the show? Dude, have some credibility. I mean, Jesus Christ! I'm so embarrassed for you. At least you can go, 'We've got a new record and we don't wanna be on that [expletive]'s radio show.'' [And he said], 'Well, we actually need some help now.'"

Three years earlier, Sixx had the following to say regarding Erna's complaints about how GODSMACK was treated on the Crüe Fest 2 tour, "Every person — from road crew, fans and even all the bands on the tour (including [Sully's] band) — was so happy, but [Erna] just seems to be crying like a bitch. Funny, even his manager told me he's an asshole... Maybe the problem is just in his head... I got no problem with him."

During a 2015 appearance on HATEBREED frontman Jamey Jasta's podcast, "The Jasta Show", Erna stated about Sixx: "I'll say it straight out: I've never met a bigger fucking dick in my life than Nikki Sixx. He's a douchebag. He's straight-up a fucking douche, and I don't give a fuck what he says. He knows exactly where I am, and he knows exactly how he can find me anytime that motherfucker has the balls to come and look me up. And I'll say it straight out on your podcast. He's a dick, man. He just treats people like shit."

A few days later, while taking part in an impromptu question-and-answer session with his followers on Facebook, Sixx was asked for his "response to Erna's "The Jasta Show" rant." Nikki gave a two-word answer: "Poor baby."

Santa Cruz, California modern heavy metal revivalist James Durbin will release the debut album from his solo band, DURBIN, "The Beast Awakens", on February 12 via Frontiers Music Srl. The official visualizer for the disc's third single, "Evil Eye", can be seen below.

"The Beast Awakens" track listing:

01. The Prince Of Metal

02. Kings Before You (feat. Chris Jericho and Phil Demmel)

03. Into The Flames

04. Sacred Mountain

05. The Beast Awakens

06. Evil Eye

07. Necromancer

08. Riders On The Wind

09. Calling Out For Midnight

10. Battle Cry

11. By The Horns

12. Rise To Valhalla

Durbin is finally releasing the album he has always wanted to over the course of his decade long recording career. Combining his love of all things DIO, IRON MAIDEN and JUDAS PRIEST, Durbin set out to craft his own signature strain of fantasy inspired power metal for his debut DURBIN album, "The Beast Awakens".

"I've found a home for my creativity with Frontiers. They really share my vision for the type of metal I wish to create and we're all excited to see where it will lead," says Durbin.

"Kings Before You", the first single released from Durbin's forthcoming album, features Chris Jericho (FOZZY) and Phil Demmel (ex-MACHINE HEAD, VIO-LENCE). For each of the solo sections on the remainder of the album tracks, Durbin called upon his own axe-wielding brethren to help out. Jon Yadon Jr., Marc Putnam, Dylan Rose and Nick Gallant all contributed guitar solos for the album. Due to the situation with COVID-19, the album was recorded largely remotely, with only Durbin himself, alongside his producer Ellison, occupying the recording studio.

Durbin says: "The fact that the album sounds the way it does, with the way it was recorded, is a testament to the passion of everyone involved. I am very grateful for all the love and care that was given to my songs and I can't wait to unleash my metal upon the world."

All the songs included on "The Beast Awakens" were written solely by Durbin himself.

"2020 has been such a strange year for all of us," he says. "Coincidentally, our shelter in place order happened just as I had begun writing for the album. It really forced me to write by myself and not rely on others to write the riffs for me. And then to write the lyrics and melodies too."

Once the songs were written and demoed by Durbin, he brought in the rhythm section of virtuoso drummer Mike Vanderhule (Y&T) and master bassist Barry Sparks (TED NUGENT, SCORPIONS, DOKKEN, B'Z). With Durbin handling the album's rhythm guitars, his core lineup was complete.

Durbin is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Many associate his name with his appearance on Season 10 of "American Idol", where he was unabashedly flying the flag for heavy metal. In fact, on the finale, he appeared with undisputed metal gods JUDAS PRIEST for rousing renditions of "Livin' After Midnight" and "Breaking The Law". James has also worked and performed alongside many incredible musicians, including Stevie Wonder, Don Was, Zakk Wylde, Sheryl Crow, Tom Jones, Mick Mars of MÖTLEY CRÜE, Bob Babbitt of THE FUNK BROTHERS and STEEL PANTHER, just to name a few.

Durbin's signature vocal prowess and powerful stage presence have earned him stamps of approval and praise from rock and metal royalty like Steven Tyler, Sammy Hagar, Rob Halford and more. He has four full-length albums to his name, in addition to lending his voice to a handful of various albums.

Durbin recorded two studio albums with QUIET RIOT — 2017's "Road Rage" and 2019's "Hollywood Cowboys" — during his three-year stint with the group.

In September 2019, QUIET RIOT parted ways with Durbin and replaced him with Jizzy Pearl.

KK'S PRIEST, the new band featuring former JUDAS PRIEST members K.K. Downing (guitar), Tim "Ripper" Owens (vocals) and Les Binks (drums), will release its debut album in 2021 via Explorer1 Music Group. The group will also play select shows next year to mark the 50th anniversary of PRIEST and Downing's career as a founding member. KK'S PRIEST's setlist will consist of PRIEST classics and new songs.

On December 24, Downing posted the following message on his social media: "Dearest Metal Fans, Season's greetings to you all! I wish you sincere heart felt sentiments from myself and KK'S PRIEST members.

"We were so disappointed when our summer gigs were cancelled, but we certainly intend to make up for it in the new year with an abundance of concerts and the release of our new album.

"Although we are still in the middle of the battle, predictions seem to be that we will be maneuvering back towards normality quite soon, thanks to the multiple vaccines now available to us.

"This year I would like to extend my sincere thanks everyone at Explorer1 Music and all at KK'S PRIEST.

"As always, I would also like to thank the workers at the Steel Mill for their continued great work and commitment.

"I am sure that you all, like me, are more than ready to say goodbye to 2020. With that said, let's look forward to 2021 as I am sure it will reward our patience and perseverance with some of the greatest music and concerts that we could possibly hope for.

"Until then, I hope you are all having fantastic holidays and I will see you all again very soon!"

KK'S PRIEST is rounded out by guitarist A.J. Mills (HOSTILE) and bassist Tony Newton (VOODOO SIX).

Owens joined PRIEST in 1996 and recorded two studio albums with the band — 1997's "Jugulator" and 2001's "Demolition" — before PRIEST reunited with Rob Halford in 2003.

Downing left PRIEST in 2011 amid claims of band conflict, shoddy management and declining quality of performance. He was replaced by Richie Faulkner, nearly three decades his junior.

Last year, Downing said that he reached out to JUDAS PRIEST about taking part in the band's upcoming 50th-anniversary tour but that their response was that they were not interested in including him in the celebrations.

In 2018, Downing revealed that he sent two resignation letters to his bandmates when he decided to quit JUDAS PRIEST. The first was described as "a graceful exit note, implying a smooth retirement from music," while the second was "angrier, laying out all of his frustrations with specific parties."

Downing later said that he believed the second letter was "a key reason" he wasn't invited to rejoin PRIEST after Glenn Tipton's decision to retire from touring.

Downing, Binks and Owens performed a full-length set of PRIEST classics with MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson in November 2019 in Wolverhampton, United Kingdom. Joining them on second guitar was Mills of HOSTILE, the British metal band whose two albums, "Eve Of Destruction" and "The New World Disorder", were both produced by Downing.

Binks played drums on PRIEST's "Stained Class", "Hell Bent For Leather" (released as "Killing Machine" in the United Kingdom) and "Unleashed In The East" albums.


Dearest metal fans,

seasons greetings to you all! I wish you sincere heart felt sentiments from myself and KK’s Priest...

Posted by K.K. Downing's Steel Mill on Thursday, December 24, 2020

SEPULTURA frontman Derrick Green spoke to Self Umpunishment about the rise of Trumpism in the U.S. and why the perceived bigotry and aggressive chauvinism of America's 45th president has found such a large audience in this country.

"The public at large, especially in the U.S., because of so many years of a horrible education system failing, going down, and no money put into that," Derrick said (see video below). "And for teachers — proper payment for teachers and everything — I've just watched it sink dramatically. And that, I believe, has a lot to do with where we're at now — lack of education, and many other things that go along with that.

"I wasn't that surprised when Trump won [in 2016]. I was really, like, 'Oh, yeah. It seems like that's the way things are gonna go.'"

According to Green, Trump's refusal to tell America the truth about the pandemic in a bid to save his political skin was one of the factors that ultimately contributed to his loss against Democrat Joe Biden.

"There's a lot of mistakes that really led to his own demise," Derrick said. "It really was all him. There are a lot of people around him that were just, like, 'What are you doing?' They really were on top of things. They had the Senate, they had a large amount of people voting consistently — they had a very strong group for a while. But he just continued to drive it into the ground, it seemed, where it's just, like, enough is enough. Nobody knowing really what's gonna happen day to day — even his own party. You've gotta feel that they have had enough too. They didn't realize that he would be such a cult figure, which is really outrageous. I think there was maybe a backlash from [former president Barack] Obama being so powerful. They were, like, 'We need our figure. We need our person.' It just ended up in shambles, and it's still continuing on."

Derrick also decried the fact that a president who is widely viewed as a racist can still command so many votes, after also playing down a pandemic that has killed at least 234,000 Americans. But Derrick clarified that he doesn't hold a personal grudge against anyone that voted for Trump.

"I'm not angry at Trump supporters by any means, and I don't think all Trump supporters are racist," he said. "It pisses me off when people say that. I'm, like, stop adding fuel to the fire that's totally unnecessary."

SEPULTURA's latest album, "Quadra", was made available in February via Nuclear Blast Records.

The band comprises Green, guitarist Andreas Kisser, bassist Paulo Xisto Pinto Jr., and drummer Eloy Casagrande.

"Quadra" is the follow-up to 2017's "Machine Messiah", which was SEPULTURA's fourteenth studio album and the eighth since Green joined the ranks.

This article was updated to correct the date when Die Welt's photo of Jon Schaffer was taken and his quotes were first published. Die Welt spoke to Schaffer and took his picture on November 15, 2020 at a pro-Trump rally in Washington, D.C. AFP's photo was captured earlier today inside the U.S. Capitol, with Jon wearing similar clothes to what he donned at the above-mentioned event less than two months earlier.

The updated article follows below.

ICED EARTH leader Jon Schaffer was photographed among the protesters who breached the U.S. Capitol earlier today (Wednesday, January 6) as lawmakers counted the Electoral College votes certifying President-elect Joe Biden's win.

Schaffer was captured with a group of demonstrators who entered the Capitol as Congress debated the 2020 presidential election electoral vote certification. The photo, which was taken by Roberto Schmidt of AFP, can be found on the Getty Images web site. The same Schaffer picture was used as the lead photo for two separate high-profile mainstream news articles earlier today: NBC News and The Daily Beast.

This is not the first pro-Donald Trump event that Schaffer has been part of. Less than two months ago, on November 15, Jon identified himself and spoke to the German daily newspaper Die Welt while in the crowd at a Washington, D.C. demonstration supporting Trump and protesting the election results. At the time, Die Welt journalist Carolina Drüten posted a picture of the guitarist and erroneously spelled Schaffer's name as "John Schaper" but did correctly note that he traveled from his home state of Indiana to attend the event.

"They will go down. They're messing with the wrong people, believe me," Schaffer was quoted as saying by Die Welt, referring to the American political establishment.

Asked by Die Welt if he expected riots, Schaffer said: "If someone uses violence against us, we will react accordingly. We don't want that, but we are ready."

During a September 2020 Facebook Live chat, Schaffer was asked if he has any intention of ever going into politics. He responded: "I'm too much of a rabble-rouser. I'm not politics material. I'm not politically correct. I'm never gonna say things that I don't believe in because somebody's lining my pockets. I have no interest in that garbage. And I think there's a few people out there like that, but they're few and far between. But still, it's really not a thing that I'm interested in."

He continued: "I spend a lot of time and energy trying to get people to do some research. I'm not trying to convince somebody of anything. I'm just saying just check it out. Use your own power of discernment. But don't make judgments based on mainstream media manipulation. These people lie all the fucking time; it's what they do. They're feckless traitors. That's what Congress is. They deceive all of us. I don't care if it's Parliament or whatever system you have — it's a joke. They're criminals, and they're owned by criminal bankers, and that's just the reality of it.

"I would rather be a guy that inspires people to get fired up about this. This is a big deal. This is about the future of the human race. This is no joke by any stretch. We have to educate ourselves.

"People think they don't have any power, but they have a tremendous amount of power — I mean, an unbelievable amount of power," Schaffer added. "The system and the control grid wants to make you feel like you have no power and they enforce their rule through fear, intimidation and psychological warfare. It's all garbage.

"I think part of it is the currency system and the way they just print money out of thin air, and it's not backed by anything, it's allowed people to have this illusion of wealth, which tends to keep people soft. But at the end of the day, it's all debt based, so that's another form of slavery. And if you're living in that kind of system, it's a way to keep people calm, because they think everything is okay. It's not okay. It hasn't been okay for a very long time. It's just now you're starting to see everything come to a head.

"I'm not a left-or-right guy. I'm an American — that's my country; that's where I live. I don't trust my government. I don't give a shit if it's an 'R' or a 'D' next to the name of the person. I try to understand the bigger picture. I've done a lot of reading and a lot of studying. I'm a man of my convictions, and I don't say stuff that I don't truly believe. And I have changed my position a few times through the years, because I've learned more — not because I was trying to be politically correct or trying to kowtow to somebody's opinion.

"I don't really care if people like my view," he said. "I really don't care. It is what I feel, and I'm being honest about it based on the research that I've done, and I've done shitloads of it. I can make these claims and back it up.

"I feel like I can have more of an effect through the music than I ever could trying to get into that arena, which is just full of trash. And it is up to all of the people to turn that around. You can't put your hope into one president or one person, or a mayor or a governor or whatever. You've gotta be out there and actively put pressure on these people, let 'em know you're paying attention. If you're not paying attention, they're gonna rob you and steal everything. Your freedom too. Not just your money. They're gonna steal your fucking freedom. 'Cause they're a bunch of sick control freaks."

Last July, Schaffer raised eyebrows when he voiced his controversial views on the coronavirus crisis during an interview with MetalSucks's "The Quarantinecast", claiming that COVID-19 is "a psychological warfare campaign on the people more than it is a serious pandemic." Implying that a shadowy cabal of elites is using a global crisis as a cover to profiteer and entrench their power, Schaffer said: "I think there's a lot more going on than meets the eye here — in fact, I know there is. Legitimate doctors and scientists are being censored and banned on YouTube constantly. It's unbelievable levels of fraud."

Schaffer and former ICED EARTH vocalist Matt Barlow announced last summer that they were reuniting as the SCHAFFER/BARLOW PROJECT.

SCHAFFER/BARLOW PROJECT released its debut EP, "Winter Nights", in November. The effort saw the two musicians putting their unique spin on five Christmas classics and two ICED EARTH songs. The EP features holiday classics like "Silent Night" and "Little Drummer Boy", as well as new interpretations of the ICED EARTH tracks "Watching Over Me" and "I Died For You"

Paul Stanley (KISS), Tommy Lee (MÖTLEY CRÜE), Tom Morello (RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE), Alex Skolnick (TESTAMENT), Dino Cazares (FEAR FACTORY), Andy Biersack (BLACK VEIL BRIDES), Mark Morton (LAMB OF GOD), Robb Flynn (MACHINE HEAD), Phil Rind (SACRED REICH), Otep Shamaya (OTEP), Doc Coyle (BAD WOLVES) and Danko Jones are among the musicians who have reacted on social media to reports that supporters of President Donald Trump breached the U.S. Capitol as lawmakers count the Electoral College votes certifying President-elect Joe Biden's win.

Hundreds of pro-Trump protesters broke through barricades and swarmed the building, forcing the Senate to evacuate and Vice President Mike Pence to be moved to a secure location.

Earlier in the day, Trump — who has refused to accept the results of the election and has baselessly asserted that the election results were fraudulent — encouraged thousands of his supporters to march to the Capitol to protest the confirmation of Biden's victory. He later returned to the White House, despite telling the crowd he would join them in the march to the Capitol.

Skolnick, who has been vocal about his distaste for America's 45th president, took to Twitter to share a video of the protests, and he wrote: "Ok, the US Capital is in lockdown. Angry, Anarchist mob worse than what they say Antifa is. Lafayette Square was ruthlessly swept by authorities in an instant for a Bible photo op yet these people are able to swarm here?? Where is the military? The National Guard? #capital #coup"

He continued: "This is next level insanity. So you can just breach our Capital? What message does this send to our adversaries? If someone was sent to destroy America, you could not find a better enabler than @realDonaldTrump".

Trump has repeatedly claimed that the election was stolen. But he has been unsuccessful in his legal efforts to convince American judges across the nation to nullify millions of votes in six key states and declare him the winner of the 2020 presidential election.

No evidence has been provided for any of his allegations, and dozens of federal courts, with both Democratic and Republican judges, have dismissed lawsuits which referred to those claims.

The presidential race ended with a victory for Biden with 306 electoral votes. Biden had received 81 million votes across America — the most votes cast for any presidential candidate in history — compared to 74 million votes for Trump.




These are TERRORISTS. This is armed insurrection. The flames were fanned today & over time by the president & specific senators who CANNOT be allowed now to distance from or denounce what they have directly caused. Know their names. THIS is the result of their deception. Shame. pic.twitter.com/nDJhvV3b1c

— Paul Stanley (@PaulStanleyLive) January 6, 2021








hey Fuckhead @realDonaldTrump tell you covidiots to go home...its a wrap, ya'll lost, GTFOH!! and while you're at it YOU get the fuck outta here too before people get seriously hurt!

— T?mmy L33 (@MrTommyLand) January 6, 2021








Makes ya think... https://t.co/9PN5o8T3bv

— Tom Morello (@tmorello) January 6, 2021








When fear & hate are encouraged to assimilate steadily into the cultural zeitgeist the is ultimate result. Absolutely heart breaking & embarrassing. I see nothing patriotic or decent in the support of this idiotic, dangerous & asinine behavior. We must find a way to unite & heal

— Andy Biersack (@andyblack) January 6, 2021








spare me that right of the people bullshit we all know that if it was a Black or Hispanic storming the capital breaking windows and destroying property it would be a bloody mess. Because these are Trump supporters and not of color police are doing nothing. https://t.co/qVbzMhNIFw

— Dino Cazares (@DinoCazares) January 6, 2021








That’s devastating I don’t encourage violence at all but Trump is part of the reason she got shot. Raising millions of dollars on his lies. https://t.co/D3gcOie7KE

— Dino Cazares (@DinoCazares) January 6, 2021








I never said he said that, but he definitely knows how to manipulate his base and encourage them to take matters into their own hands based off conspiracy theory lies that he tweets. He does not condemn his base. https://t.co/0kU2ltkIjk

— Dino Cazares (@DinoCazares) January 6, 2021








You know he’s watching and loving all this.He has so much control over his supporters, so much control that he can get them to believe his lies and storm & vandalize the capital building based on a conspiracy theory he tweets, and to take millions of your dollars in donations.

— Dino Cazares (@DinoCazares) January 6, 2021








Bang bang trump bitches pic.twitter.com/q4ZzNcZ9eV

— ? OTEP SHAMAYA ? (@otepofficial) January 6, 2021








What the fuck https://t.co/nNQ27ySyq7

— Doc Coyle (@DocCoyle) January 6, 2021








They are traitors. https://t.co/qvplTCNAFe

— Noodles Believes in Democracy (@TheGnudz) January 6, 2021








They’re putting one man above the country. That’s how “patriotic” these people actually are. They are traitors & should be held accountable for their actions. The fact that they are cultists & idiots is no excuse. https://t.co/XM4aNiTkah

— Noodles Believes in Democracy (@TheGnudz) January 6, 2021








When BLM protestors were marching on the confederate monuments here in Richmond, they were getting beaten with batons & tear gassed.

These dudes are literally being allowed to CLIMB the Capitol building lol

— Mark Morton ?? (@MarkDuaneMorton) January 6, 2021








These look like insurgents, not protestors. https://t.co/GQcJ0OwfJu

— Doc Coyle (@DocCoyle) January 6, 2021








Pretty much sums it all up. https://t.co/BiF1YUqVp7

— Doc Coyle (@DocCoyle) January 6, 2021








These “protestors” should break into a CVS and then maybe the national guard will show up.

— Doc Coyle (@DocCoyle) January 6, 2021








Ok, the US Capital is in lockdown. Angry, Anarchist mob worse than what they say Antifa is. Lafayette Square was ruthlessly swept by authorities in an instant for a Bible photo op yet these people are able to swarm here?? Where is the military? The National Guard? #capital #coup pic.twitter.com/7DbEgVqhHT

— Alex Skolnick (@AlexSkolnick) January 6, 2021








Fuck these traitors!!

— Robb Flynn (@TheGeneralMH) January 6, 2021








This is next level insanity pic.twitter.com/sYRQa4R65y

— Alex Skolnick (@AlexSkolnick) January 6, 2021








So you can just breach our Capital? What message does this send to our adversaries? If someone was sent to destroy America, you could not find a better enabler than @realDonaldTrump

— Alex Skolnick (@AlexSkolnick) January 6, 2021








In NYC during the summer, we saw footage of police bashing bicycles over peaceful protesters heads, ramming through a bunch with their cars, shoving @zayer_dounya for simply walking in their pathway. And this is being allowed to go on inside the Capital right now: https://t.co/eFOQjwa1MX

— Alex Skolnick (@AlexSkolnick) January 6, 2021








What is happening right now is absolutely disgusting and repulsive...

I pray for everybody’s safety

— Mike Portnoy ? (@MikePortnoy) January 6, 2021








That DC surge into the Capitol building by a bunch of white nationalist incels would’ve been a bloodbath if it was BLM or Antifa.

— Danko Jones (@dankojones) January 6, 2021








Of course we all thought it, but it can now be confirmed that Trump supporters are easily the dumbest motherfuckers on the planet.

This is what happens when you support a rich kid half-man with bone spurs that hosts a reality tv show.

— Danko Jones (@dankojones) January 6, 2021








Been looking forward to the people storming the Capitol, but I thought it would be to stop the lies and corruption, not support it.

— Sacred Reich (@SacredReich) January 6, 2021








Under the guise of #SaveAmericaRally and #StopTheSteaI2021, ignorant white racists are lashing out like wounded animals to undermine democracy!! pic.twitter.com/qQRsJ4idrM

— del james (@deljamesgang) January 6, 2021








No doubt

— Sacred Reich (@SacredReich) January 6, 2021








What you're seeing at the U.S. Capitol isn't anarchy.

It's a violent attempt by domestic terrorists at overthrowing representative democracy in favor of racist authoritarianism.

— Del. Danica Roem (@pwcdanica) January 6, 2021








Pow ? I told ya’ll shit was gonna get wild before this BS is over. https://t.co/ehxeq1LyG5

— ICE T (@FINALLEVEL) January 6, 2021








Just imagine for a second if BLM tried this BS.. Just sayin.

— ICE T (@FINALLEVEL) January 6, 2021








Shit is Wild.... I wonder if ANYBODY is even gonna go to jail.. smh.. https://t.co/1cAfpAPdRV

— ICE T (@FINALLEVEL) January 6, 2021

Former SEPULTURA drummer Igor Cavalera has launched a new video series, "Beneath The Drums", on his YouTube channel, where he dissects some of the best-known songs from his recording history. In the first episode, which can be seen below, he gives the backstory of the SEPULTURA song "Territory" and also performs a playthrough video of the track, originally taken from the band's 1993 album "Chaos A.D."

Igor left SEPULTURA in June 2006 due to "artistic differences." His departure from the band came five months after he announced that he was taking a break from SEPULTURA's touring activities to spend time with his second wife and their son (who was born in January 2006).

In 1996, Igor's brother, frontman Max Cavalera, exited SEPULTURA after the rest of the band split with Max's wife Gloria as their manager.

For more than a decade, Igor has been part of the MIXHELL DJ/hip-hop/electro project with his wife Laima Leyton.

Last year, Igor teamed up with Wayne Adams (BIG LAD, DEATH PEDALS, JOHNNY BROKE) to form the PETBRICK project. The band's debut album, "I", was released in October 2019 via Closed Casket Activities in the U.S.

The current SEPULTURA lineup — featuring guitarist Andreas Kisser and bassist Paulo Xisto Pinto Jr. alongside Derrick Green on vocals and Eloy Casagrande on drums — released its latest studio album, "Quadra", in February via Nuclear Blast.

STRYPER's Michael Sweet and FOZZY's Chris Jericho have criticized a U.S. Congressman's "light-hearted" attempt to be inclusive on Sunday, when he wrapped up a prayer in the House of Representatives with the words "Amen and awomen," saying it was "a perfect example of going way too far."

Missouri Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a United Methodist pastor from Kansas City, delivered the opening prayer for the 117th Congress and ended it by saying, "We ask it in the name of the monotheistic God, Brahma, and 'god' known by many names, by many different faiths. Amen and awoman."

The word "Amen" comes from the Hebrew language, in which it means "certainty," "truth" and "so be it," according to the etymology explained in various dictionaries.

Earlier today, Sweet took to his Instagram to share the headline "Democrat's opening prayer ends with 'amen and a-woman'', and he included the following message: "As we should fight for ALL rights and respect ALL people, we should also respect the dictionary.

"'Amen' has nothing to do with gender, it simply means 'so be it'. That's the definition.

"Adding 'a-women' to the end of a prayer is a perfect example of going way too far. What do you think?"

A number of people weighed in with their opinions, including Jericho, who wrote simply: "Agreed".

Several Republican lawmakers took to Twitter to slam Cleaver for the ending, with one calling Cleaver's prayer "Political Correctness gone way off the rails." Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich called it "radical madness," while Donald Trump, Jr. poked fun at the episode, tweeting, "Awoman, Amen, and a Priest Walk into a bar..."

Cleaver told Snopes the pun was meant to underscore the fact that there is a record number of women serving in the new Congress and a first female chaplain of the House of Representatives.

"I am deeply disappointed that my prayer has been misinterpreted and misconstrued by some to fit a narrative that stokes resentment and greater division among portions of our population," he said in a statement. "I believe prayers to be a personal conversation between El Shaddai and the invocator. With this conversation, in the presence of the 117th House of Representatives, I concluded with a light-hearted pun in recognition of the record number of women who will be representing the American people in Congress during this term as well as in recognition of the first female Chaplain of the House of Representatives whose service commenced this week. I personally find these historic occasions to be blessings from God for which I am grateful.

"Rather than reflecting on my faithful requests for community healing and reversion from our increasingly tribal tendencies, it appears that some have latched on to the final word of this conversation in an attempt to twist my message to God and demean me personally," he continued. "In doing so, they have proven one point of my greater message — that we are all 'soiled by selfishness, perverted by prejudice and inveigled by ideology…'"
























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QUEENSRŸCHE frontman Todd La Torre will release his debut solo album, "Rejoice In The Suffering", on February 5, 2021 via Rat Pak Records. The official music video for the disc's second single, "Vanguards Of The Dawn Wall", can be seen below. The clip was filmed in Florida and features Todd and guitarist Craig Blackwell delivering the punishing track in front of a giant rock wall. The song and video was inspired by rock-climbing documentaries that Todd had watched while recording for the LP. The song further showcases the influence that metal has on La Torre has and continues to surprise fans and critics that know him from his work in QUEENSRŸCHE.

"'Vanguards Of The Dawn Wall' is a full-throttle thrasher," Todd says. "We wanted a no-nonsense, fast-paced shredder, with intense guitar riffs, solos, drumwork, and vocals. This song was inspired by a few different documentaries surrounding two particular near-insurmountable feats of rock climbing. While initially written about those achievements, this song is really meant to represent and embody this very special breed and the spirit of all climbing."

The first single from "Rejoice In The Suffering", a song called "Darkened Majesty", was released in December. The track is a driving metal song complete with furious drumwork from La Torre, dynamic tempo shifts and showcases Todd's vocals in a way most fans have not heard before.

The idea for a solo album was always in the cards for Todd. With QUEENSRŸCHE tour dates postponed indefinitely, the world events offered Todd the opportunity to explore his ideas for the effort. Todd teamed up with longtime friend and collaborator Craig Blackwell, alongside producer Chris "Zeuss" Harris, to create a diverse heavy metal album that draws influence from different styles. These styles will surprise fans who only know La Torre from his previous work with QUEENSRŸCHE or CRIMSON GLORY.

Says Todd: "'Rejoice In The Suffering' was truly a labor of love. It's a pure metal record that certainly showcases a wide range of my vocal abilities. I feel there is something for any true fan of metal on this album. This album is full of groove, dynamics, power, and substance and I can’t wait for people to hear it."

From the album's opening riffs of "Dogmata" to the vocal acrobatics that drive the album closer "Apology", it is apparent that La Torre has a true love of heavy metal. With Todd playing drums and recording the vocals for the album, songs like "Darkened Majesty" and "Critical Cynic" offer an inside look into his musical mind. Blackwell's guitar playing provides the perfect musical accents to La Torre's vocals. Todd even finds vocal wails not heard from him before as showcased on the title track and the punishing "Vanguards Of The Dawn Wall". The deluxe version of the album features three bonus tracks: "Fractured", "Set It Off" and "One By One". Fans can pre-order the album in various bundle configurations here.

"Rejoice In The Suffering" track listing:

01. Dogmata

02. Pretenders

03. Hellbound And Down

04. Darkened Majesty

05. Crossroads To Insanity

06. Critical Cynic

07. Rejoice In The Suffering

08. Vexed

09. Vanguards Of The Dawn Wall

10. Apology

Bonus tracks (deluxe version only)

11. Fractured

12. Set It Off

13. One By One

La Torre previously talked about his plans to release a solo LP in a 2017 interview with Canada's The Metal Voice. He stated about the direction of the material that will appear on the record: "Musically, it is probably, like, FIGHT meets PANTERA meets BLACK LABEL [SOCIETY]. It's definitely got that kind of southern… You know, PANTERA had that certain power groove — not full-fledged [speed], but has thrash elements. And then vocally, I'm singing probably a lot more chest voice, and then I've got some brutal gutteral vocals on it… That'll be a lot more brutal and more thrash, but the vocals are definitely more a power-metal, operatic kind of a thing — very aggressive…"

La Torre joined his first band BLACKWELL as the drummer, performing in high school talent shows and entering into the club rock music scene in Tampa Bay, Florida. In 2009, Todd was suggested to CRIMSON GLORY guitarist Jon Drenning by a mutual friend to help with some vocal rehearsals in preparation for a CRIMSON GLORY memorial concert. This would pave the way for more collaborations with the band, eventually joining as the band’s new permanent vocalist. La Torre was the lead singer for CRIMSON GLORY from late 2010 until resigned from the band in early 2013. In 2012, Todd became a household name in the metal world when he officially became the new lead vocalist of QUEENSRŸCHE. The band immediately began touring globally and started writing new material for the self-titled 2013 album "Queensrÿche". To date, QUEENSRŸCHE has released three studio albums with La Torre: "Queensrÿche", "Condition Hüman" (2015) and "The Verdict" (2019). Currently the band is writing new material for a fourth release for Century Media Records.

Miley Cyrus has collaborated with Elton John on a cover of METALLICA's "Nothing Else Matters".

The pop star discussed the project during an appearance on the U.K. radio show "Capital Breakfast With Roman Kemp". She said: "I did a METALLICA cover of 'Nothing Else Matters' featuring Elton John on piano. I've got Yo-Yo Ma, Chad Smith — so many all-stars.

"I'm so excited about this collaboration. Andrew Watt produced it, and I'm really stoked. I mean, having Elton John and METALLICA and me — I love it when ingredients don’t quite fit."

Cyrus previously said she was working on an album of METALLICA covers last October.

A year earlier, Miley performed her version of "Nothing Else Matters" at U.K.'s Glastonbury festival.

Cyrus's rendition of the METALLICA classic — which can be heard below — came five months after drummer Lars Ulrich said that he was "stunned" by her take on TEMPLE OF THE DOG's "Say Hello 2 Heaven" at the "I Am The Highway: A Tribute To Chris Cornell" concert at the Forum in Los Angeles.

Back in January 2019, Ulrich took to his Instagram to post a photo of him backstage with Cyrus, along with the message: "Still stunned by your next level version of 'Say Hello 2 Heaven' for Chris! Beyond inspiring."

According to Official Charts, AC/DC's "Power Up", along with classic titles from QUEEN, PINK FLOYD and THE BEATLES, were among the U.K.'s top selling vinyl releases of 2020.

Topping the overall end-of-year vinyl album chart is FLEETWOOD MAC's 1997 effort "Rumours", which sold 32,500 copies on vinyl in the U.K. in 2020. Elsewhere, "Power Up" landed at No. 8, QUEEN's "Greatest Hits" took the No. 7 spot, and PINK FLOYD's "Dark Side Of The Moon" came in at No. 13. The chart also includes two titles from THE BEATLES, "Abbey Road" and "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band".

"Power Up" hit the No. 1 spot in 18 countries, including in the U.S., where it sold over 117,000 copies in the first week.

In the U.K., "Power Up" opened with first-week sales of 62,000. 52,955 units of these were on a physical format (CD, vinyl, cassette).

AC/DC is the only Australian group in history to have had a No. 1 album in its home country across five decades: "Back In Black" (1980s), "Ballbreaker Live" (1990s), "Black Ice" (2000s), "Rock Or Bust" (2010s) and "Power Up" (2020s).

"Power Up" features AC/DC's 2021 lineup of Brian Johnson (vocals), Phil Rudd (drums), Cliff Williams (bass), Angus Young (guitar) and Stevie Young (guitar). The LP was recorded over a six-week period in August and September 2018 at Warehouse Studios in Vancouver with producer Brendan O'Brien, who also worked 2008's "Black Ice" and 2014's "Rock Or Bust".

"Power Up" is a tribute to Angus's brother Malcolm Young, who died in 2017 from effects of dementia at age 64. Malcolm is credited as a writer on all 12 tracks on "Power Up", along with Angus.

"Power Up" is available in multiple configurations, including digital, CD, and deluxe versions. The limited-edition, one-of-a-kind deluxe "Power Up" box is the ultimate fan package. Hit the button on the side of the box and watch the flashing neon AC/DC logo light up while the opening bars of "Shot In The Dark" blast out of the built-in speaker. Inside the box is the full CD package in a soft-pack with a 20-page booklet that features exclusive photos and USB charging cable allowing the box to remain powered up and on display. The vinyl LP was pressed on 180-gram vinyl and housed in a gatefold jacket. Limited-edition variants of the LP are available at select retailers nationwide, as well as the band's online st

Greg Puciato, whose recent streaming event "Fuck Content" merged the worlds of recording and performance, has released a video for "Don't Wanna Deal", a song whose creation was chronicled in the film.

Puciato said of the new track: "I 'Don't Wanna Deal' with having to come up with something to say about this song or video clip so I'm not gonna."

The 16-track "Fuck Content" album features five new songs not available on Puciato's critically acclaimed solo debut, "Child Soldier: Creator Of God", as well as live versions of ten of the album tracks. While all vinyl variants have now sold out, a collectible Blu-ray is currently available, as are limited-edition, Jesse Draxler-designed merch items. Both the film and album are available digitally, with downloads available directly via the Federal Prisoner webstore, and album streams available across all major platforms.

"Fuck Content" is a reflection of where Puciato is in his post-THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN life. He recently celebrated the release of KILLER BE KILLED's sophomore album, "Reluctant Hero", with the band landing on the covers of both Revolver and Kerrang! The album also debuted atop the iTunes Rock and Metal charts. His solo debut, "Child Soldier: Creator Of God", arrived the previous month, with Consequence Of Sound saying the 15-song album delivers "an experimental yet heavy sound that echoes Puciato's versatility as an artist." Puciato released four videos to accompany the release: "Do You Need Me to Remind You?", "A Pair Of Questions", "Deep Set" and "Fire For Water". In addition to writing and recording two high-profile releases, Puciato surprised fans at the end of last year by joining ALICE IN CHAINS' Jerry Cantrell for a pair of special performances.

On Monday, January 4, the metal world was shocked to hear about the passing of Alexi Laiho, former frontman of CHILDREN OF BODOM, at the age of only 41. As a tribute to both Laiho and late DEATH mainman Chuck Schuldiner, journalist and author Björn "Nalle" Österman thought it would be fitting to release two live recordings sung by Alexi from a memorial concert held in 2002 for Schuldiner that have remained in the vaults — until now.

On March 1, 2002 a memorial concert was held at Nosturi in Helsinki, Finland for Schuldiner, who passed away from to cancer on December 13, 2001 at the age of only 34. Four bands performed at the event: DIABLO, NORTHER, MORBID DREAM and a Finnish "all-star group" called EVIL CHUCKS, which only played covers of songs from the first three DEATH albums.

Vocals in EVIL CHUCKS were handled by three Finnish golden greats: Taneli Jarva (SENTENCED, POISON WHISKY), Jari Hurskainen (GANDALF, THE SCOURGER) and Laiho, who sang two songs from DEATH's third album, "Spiritual Healing" — "Within My Mind" and "Defensive Personalities".

The full lineup on "Within My Mind" and "Defensive Personalities" is as follows:

* Alexi Laiho (CHILDREN OF BODOM, BODOM AFTER MIDNIGHT) - Vocals

* Mitja Harvilahti (MOONSORROW) - Guitar

* Janne Perttilä (MOONSORROW, BARREN EARTH) - Guitar

* Oppu Laine (AMORPHIS, CHAOSBREED, BARREN EARTH) - Bass

* Nalle Österman (GANDALF, CHAOSBREED) – Drums

Laiho died in his home in Helsinki last week. The musician had suffered from long-term health issues in the years leading up to his death.

Laiho and drummer Jaska Raatikainen founded CHILDREN OF BODOM in 1993, and the band was one of the most internationally acclaimed metal acts in Finland up until their very last farewell concert in December of 2019. Last year, Alexi put together BODOM AFTER MIDNIGHT, which recorded three songs and shot one music video, to be released posthumously.

Alexi Laiho's wife has thanked his fans for their support, two days after the former CHILDREN OF BODOM frontman's death was made public.

On Tuesday (January 5), Australian-born Kelli Wright-Laiho, who has previously worked as a publicist for various extreme metal bands, took to her Instagram to post a black square, and she wrote in an accompanying message: "Thank you all so much for your beautiful energy and support. I'm taking time out to grieve our enormous loss with our immediate Finnish and Australian family. Understandably, as you are, we're completely broken but wanted you to know, We love and appreciate you all so much."

When Alexi's death was first announced on Monday (January 4), Kelli called him "the most loving and magnificent husband and father."

Laiho died in his home in Helsinki last week. The 41-year-old had suffered from long-term health issues leading up to his death.

Laiho and drummer Jaska Raatikainen founded CHILDREN OF BODOM in 1993, and the band was one of the most internationally acclaimed metal acts in Finland up until their very last farewell concert in December of 2019. Last year, Alexi put together BODOM AFTER MIDNIGHT, which recorded three songs and shot one music video, to be released posthumously.

Besides CHILDREN OF BODOM, Laiho had played in such acts as WARMEN, SINERGY, KYLÄHULLUT and THE LOCAL BAND. Awarded with a Metal Hammer Golden God and several other international prizes, the guitarist was also the main star, leading a group of one hundred guitar players at the Helsinki Festival in 2015 in "100 Guitars From Hel" — a massive concert piece he composed.

Alexi relished his role as stepdad in his family, and as uncle and godfather. Especially during the last years, the important family ties brought a welcomed balance to his life and the active touring. Laiho was particularly close with his big sister, parents and his sister's daughter.

BODOM AFTER MIDNIGHT made its live debut last October at Rytmikorjaamo in Seinäjoki, Finland. The 17-song show consisted entirely of CHILDREN OF BODOM material.

Jaska Raatikainen (drums), Henri "Henkka T. Blacksmith" Seppälä (bass) and Janne Wirman (keyboards) announced their departures from CHILDREN OF BODOM in October 2019. Two months later, they confirmed that they were the rightful owners of the CHILDREN OF BODOM brand.
























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In a new interview with Jack Antonio of the "Do You Know Jack?" podcast, legendary DOKKEN and LYNCH MOB guitarist George Lynch spoke about how the rise of grunge in the early 1990s forced most hard rock bands off the radio and MTV, with album and tour sales plummeting.

"Initially, I didn't see it coming," George admitted (hear audio below). "I was just blind to it. And me and the people around me got personally blindsided by it and hurt by it, because we were still working under the assumption that everything was the same as it was in the '80s — we were making records that way, and all that kind of stuff. Not that you should change to conform, or anything like that, but it was a period of adjustment. I was trying to get my head wrapped around it."

He continued: "I'm very open-minded about things and wanna try new stuff and explore music that I'm not familiar with and all that kind of thing. So I was thinking, 'What is it about this that is appealing or good?', or whatever, and I started figuring it out and getting it. You know — don't play guitar solos in the middle of every song, wear a flannel shirt, be depressed and talk about shit that matters. Drop all the trappings of silliness and superficiality. I get it. So it was kind of a learning curve. It affected me in my writing, to a certain extent, a little bit.

"The '90s was really kind of a vacuum for me, and I'm sure most of my contemporaries, as far as guitar music. We all had to kind of take a step back. So it was probably my least productive period — not that I didn't work and wasn't productive, but I was kind of fishing around, so to speak."

Lynch went on to say that he appreciated some of the "nu metal" bands that took over from grunge as the major alternative sound of the late 1990s.

"I had a [record] called 'Smoke This' in the late '90s and 2000 that I should have called LYNCH BIZKIT — [it was] in the LIMP BIZKIT [vein], a little bit," he said. "I loved it; I loved that music. In fact, I think LIMP BIZKIT is a great fucking band, and I'm actually a huge fan. I just caught 'em a few years ago. They were great."

Lynch recently collaborated with his former DOKKEN bandmate Jeff Pilson on a collection of studio recordings that turn pop music classics into metal anthems. Released on December 18, "Heavy Hitters" includes cover versions of such tracks as Carole King's "I Feel The Earth Move", Prince's "Kiss", OASIS's "Champagne Supernova", Madonna's "Music" and R.E.M.'s "It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)".

DOKKEN's classic lineup — Pilson, Lynch, singer Don Dokken and drummer "Wild" Mick Brown — reunited for a short Japanese tour in the fall of 2016. The trek marked the first time in 21 years the four musicians had hit the road together.

Image credit: ESP Guitars

In a new interview with Drew Stone of The New York Hardcore Chronicles, LAMB OF GOD frontman Randy Blythe reflected on his ordeal in a Czech Republic prison and his subsequent acquittal after he was accused of causing a fan's death by pushing him off stage.

Randy, who is also an author and photographer, said (see video below): "There was a show we played in Prague in 2010, and a young man was injured. He either leapt or was pushed from the stage, hit his head and died a month later. It was a crazy fucking show, and security was not doing their jobs. But we didn't know anything about it — my band didn't. So we showed back up two years later, and I go to the airport in Prague, and I was excited to go shoot some photos. It was a day off. And there were, like, seven people there. We thought someone was there to get a terrorist — [they were] wearing face masks and machine guns and shit. And they hand me a piece of paper saying I was being charged with manslaughter. We were, like, 'What the fuck?' We had no idea anybody was even hurt [at that show].

"So I went to prison for 37 days in the Czech Republic — a prison in Prague called Pankrác. It was, like, 123 years old at that time. It was like being in a MISFITS song, basically. Then I got out on bail, and was out for, I think, eight months maybe, then went back to trial and was found not guilty.

"So that's the long and short of it. It was a really sad time, and it's super tragic that this young man died," Randy added. "But I felt obligated to go back and face trial, because his family never came at me in the press; they just wanted to know what happened to their kid, and I cannot blame them. So I went back and stood trial and was found not guilty."

Blythe went on to say that the Czech judicial system is "very much" different from the one in the U.S. "For instance, when they granted me bail, the bail was almost a quarter million dollars," he explained. "So we borrowed that from the record label. And they were, like, 'We paid bail, [and] you'll be coming home soon.' And I was, like, 'Okay, cool.' And then the prosecuting attorney objected to the conditions of my bail. In America, you're granted bail, and you go. There, they're, like, 'Nope, you're not going.' So they went back to court while I was sitting in prison, and then they were, like, 'Okay, we're still gonna grant you bail, but now it's double.' So now we're up to almost half a million dollars bail, which is not the type of money we have. Luckily, some rather wealthy friends of ours in the music industry loaned us that money. And then I got out, and then went back and went to trial.

"It's different in that there's a judge who's a professional judge, like here, and then there's two, what they call 'lay' judges," he continued. "They're kind of like their version of jurors. So it's three judges. And it's weird — you've gotta get up and tell your side of the story. It's totally different than any American judicial system. So it was kind of a weird, weird time. But I knew I hadn't purposely tried to injure anyone or anything, and I felt that the kid's parents deserved some answers. So I went back and did my best to explain it to 'em."

According to Randy, he spent a month in Prague preparing for the trial. "Because I couldn't use an American lawyer; you have to use a Czech lawyer," he said. "So our band's lawyer went with me to kind of be an intermediary between the Czech lawyers and my lawyer. And we kind of had to explain what a show is like to three judges who all grew up in communist Czechoslovakia before the fall of the Iron Curtain. There was no reference point whatsoever. We had to explain what stage diving was, what moshing was. It was crazy, dude.

"So, it was not a cheap or fun undertaking — it was a difficult time of my life — but it was something I felt obligated to do. Me going to prison for a little while wasn't fun, but it doesn't compare anything to the loss that family felt. So that's something I kept cognizant in my mind at all times."

Blythe's prison experience inspired two songs on LAMB OF GOD's 2015 album "VII: Sturm Und Drang": "512", one of his three prison cell numbers, and "Still Echoes", written while he was in Pankrác, a dilapidated facility built in the 1880s that had been used for executions by the Nazis during World War II. It also led him to write the memoir "Dark Days", in which he shared his whole side of the story publicly for the first time.

"I think artistically, it was a very valid choice to use those two songs because they come from a very real, very dark place," Blythe told the New York Post back in 2015. "I write about things that are impactful for my life that stir up emotion in me, that affect me, that have some sort of impact within my life. Not that going to prison has no impact in my life, but I was out of prison and I felt it would be disingenuous to use it as a creative well to draw from."

LAMB OF GOD's self-titled album was released in June 2019 via Epic Records in the U.S. and Nuclear Blast Records in Europe. The follow-up to 2015's "VII: Sturm Und Drang" marked the band's first recordings with Art Cruz, who joined LOG last year as the replacement for the group's founding drummer, Chris Adler.

"Lamb Of God" was recorded with longtime producer Josh Wilbur (KORN, MEGADETH, GOJIRA, TRIVIUM) and includes special guest appearances by Jamey Jasta (HATEBREED) and Chuck Billy (TESTAMENT).


The NYHC Chronicles LIVE! Ep. #90 Randy Blythe (Lamb Of God / Photographer)

Wen. 12/30 @ 3:00 pm (EST) The NYHC Chronicles LIVE! Ep. #90 Randy Blythe (Lamb Of God / Photographer) w/ "Hardcore Shutterbug" Steven J. Messina & "Collectable of the Week" w/ Ratbones. Sponsored by NYHC Comics, The Organic Grill, Your Core Fan Page, The Texas Silver Rush & Chain Reaction Records and Skateboards

Posted by The New York Hardcore Chronicles Page on Wednesday, December 30, 2020

RAINBOW singer Ronnie Romero says that it would be "really hard" for him to be in just one band.

In addition to RAINBOW, the 39-year-old — who is originally from Chile but is now settled in Romania after living in Madrid, Spain for a number of years — is also a member of LORDS OF BLACK, THE FERRYMEN and VANDENBERG. He has also played with CORELEONI and recently laid down his vocals on a new SUNSTORM album.

Romero discussed his many projects during a recent interview with Romania's Maximum Rock. Speaking about his need to work with more than one band at a time, Ronnie said (see video below): "There is two elements and two factors that, to me, are very important in any project that I get involved. The first one is the artistic and creative side. In my case, and this is my personal opinion, I need to be busy with different things all the time. To me, it would be very boring to be in just one band doing just one kind of music and just one style of music. It would be very boring to play just heavy metal, because I grew up listening to different kind of music, different styles, different singers, different bands. So mostly, what I need is to be involved in different projects, to have the chance to develop my performance in different ways. That's why I have a heavy metal band like LORDS OF BLACK and I love to be involved with CORELEONI, for example, which is more classic hard rock music, and, obviously, with RAINBOW, because it's more classic rock, and THE FERRYMEN, which is more progressive, melodic heavy metal. Or now SUNSTORM, which is more AOR music — even more melodic than others. And that keeps me very busy mentally, in my creative side."

He continued: "The other side is, the other element is the business. Nowadays, there's no millionaire record labels and millionaire record deals anymore. So, to reach a certain point of life and comfort, you need to be busy with different things.

"I know that some musicians, they say, 'We want you just in these bands, because if you are in many bands, the people [think it is] boring,' or whatever. But, to me, it's really hard to be just in one band, mostly this year, waiting for shows, waiting for albums, just on my couch, and nobody is paying for that. [Laughs] So, exclusivity is not for free. If you want to have somebody committed in an exclusive way, you need to pay for it, and nobody is paying for that. Everybody wants a piece of cake, of you, and everybody wants it for free. And it doesn't work in that way."

Late last month, Romero made a social media post in which he decried the hardball nature of the music business, saying that "too many people" in the industry are "beyond the good and the evil." He wrote in part: "I'm SO fucking tired of this dirty 'music' world. Everybody think they have the right to tell what to do or how to do it. Everybody think they have the right to judge you. Nobody is enough educated to be polite or at least talk to you as a 'person'. Everybody wants a piece of your cake and they want it FOR FREE, because if you tell your price they get offended. Everybody think you should kiss their hand because they 'give u the chance'. Nobody cares about your feelings, your thoughts, your dreams, your plans... and then when you are not agree with them you are an asshole... everything is so unfair, but you anyway you need to smile all the time, because show must go on. Everybody will blame on you anyway, from their couch or from their golden throne... too many people is beyond the good and the evil..."

Romero made his live debut with RAINBOW in June 2016 after he was selected to front the latest version of the band guitarist Ritchie Blackmore had formed after quitting DEEP PURPLE.

AVENGED SEVENFOLD frontman M. Shadows spoke to Kerrang! magazine abut the status of the band's long-awaited follow-up to 2016's "The Stage" album. "We've been writing a record for a while, and most of it was already written [before the coronavirus pandemic]," he said. "But then we kinda took a break on it, and then it would be like, 'Hey, let's get together two days this week,' instead of five or six. It just started getting more casual. Then we recorded really casually, and — like I said — we're still in the middle of it: we still have all these things that we can't do. We're still trying to get string sections together, and our mixer is older and I know that they don't want him to travel right now because of COVID, so even if we got it done right now, we couldn't get it mixed. So we're just not worrying about it, you know? It's like, 'When we can, we can.' But right now, we can't. [Laughs]."

According to the singer, there are no plans for AVENGED SEVENFOLD to release new music until he and his bandmates are able to hit the road again.

"No one wants to put out the record if we can't tour it," he said. "The reality is — and no-one wants to hear this — in this day and age, rock 'n' roll just takes too long to make: you know, it's going to be a three-year record to make. And if we put that record out and then we're locked down for another year, as much as people don't want to believe this, they are not going to give a shit about a record that came out a year prior when it's time to tour. And so if it's going to take us two or three years to write a record, we're not going to put it out if we can't go play it live. We know the anticipation won't be there when the tours come around. You see it every day — if you look at iTunes or Spotify and see how quickly it all turns over, it's just weekly onto the next thing and onto the next thing again. If you just imagine putting out a record in August, and then you're not touring until next August, people don't want to hear this but they're not going to care; they're going to be like, 'What's next?' Once the GOJIRA record, or the new METALLICA record, or the new MEGADETH record comes out, they're not going to care about what came out the year prior. Our whole thing is: if it's going to take us three years to do a record, we're going to make sure we can play it live and people are going to be excited about it."

As for the musical direction of the new AVENGED material, M. Shadows said: "The [new] record sounds nothing like 'The Stage' — it's a completely new direction, and it sounds nothing like anything we've done. That's all I'll say about it: it's over the top, and it's very eclectic and wild."

AVENGED SEVENFOLD kept a low profile during 2019 and will likely not return to the road until the end of next year. A blood blister on M. Shadows's vocal cords forced the band to cancel a summer 2018 tour with PROPHETS OF RAGE and THREE DAYS GRACE.

Earlier this year, AVENGED SEVENFOLD's platinum-certified DVD/CD "Live In The LBC & Diamonds In The Rough" was released digitally for the very first time via Warner Records. "Diamonds In The Rough", originally issued in 2008 as a compilation CD that included B-sides recorded during the making of the band's self-titled debut, was made available on February 7, while "Live In The LBC", originally released as a live DVD from the band's 2008 show at Long Beach Arena, came out on March 6.

"The Stage" was surprise-released in October 2016. The release of the disc, which was announced the night it went on sale, earned the lowest sales of an AVENGED SEVENFOLD album in 11 years. It sold 76 thousand copies in its first week, 73 thousand of which were physical.

"The Stage", AVENGED's debut for Capitol, sold less than half as many copies in its first week as the group's two previous efforts, 2010's "Nightmare" and 2013's "Hail To The King"